A deal for reconstruction

After months of negotiations with violent turns such as the scandal in the Oval Office, the USA and Ukraine have agreed on an economic agreement. What is known about it so far.

What is the agreement between the USA and Ukraine?

According to the deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economics Julia Swryrydenko, the agreement provides for a joint investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

This reconstruction fund should invest in projects to promote minerals, oil and gas and infrastructure associated with it. Only in Ukraine may be invested. In the first ten years, the fund should not distribute profits and income, but should be reinvested. After that, the profits among the partners should be able to be divided.

US Finance Minister Scott Bessent gave the Agreement a clear signal to the Russian leadership that the Trump government is working in the long term for a peace process. A “free, sovereign and prospering Ukraine” is in the interests of the United States. The White House spoke of a “historical agreement”.

Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj also spoke of a “historical agreement”. The negotiations were sometimes difficult, but the result is convincing: “This is a collaboration with America and on fair conditions, if both the Ukrainian state and the United States, which help us with our defense, can earn money in partnership.”

Where should the money come from for the fund?

Important for Ukraine: According to Swrydenko, your country does not have to bear debts because of previous weapons or financial aid from the United States since the beginning of the Russian attack war. This had long been a critical point in the negotiations because US President Donald Trump saw potential proceeds from the reduction in raw materials as compensation for the financial and military support of the United States and also wanted to make profit. According to the agreement now agreed, Trump emphasized that the United States would get much more back than they had invested so far.

Ukraine will not make its share in the fund from existing raw material projects, but will pay 50 percent of the income from future funding licenses or raw material sales. The United States could also make its contribution to the fund with military aid, for example with anti -aircraft weapons. In any of the partner countries, taxes should therefore apply to the income of the fund.

Who has control?

According to Swrydenko, decisions about the work of the fund are to be made equal and made with the same voting rights. Ukraine will keep “full control” over its soil, infrastructure and its natural resources, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal.

What also hopes for Ukraine?

“The transfer and the development of technologies are an important part of the agreement, because we not only need investments, but also innovations,” said Minister of Economic Affairs Swarydenko. She added that the agreement would not influence the efforts of Ukraine for integration into the European Union.

Ukraine also works with other countries such as Great Britain, France and Italy on projects to obtain critical raw materials. The government estimates the investment potential at around twelve to $ 15 billion by 2033.

What does Washington want to achieve with the contract?

The US President needed a success. With his announcement, he failed to end the Russian-Ukrainian War, which has been going on since 2022. The agreement offers him the opportunity to present a deal. When investments are really made and possibly dividends from the fund to be created to the United States will flow back in secondary importance.

So far, it is unanswered where the money for investments should come from if it does not come from tax funds. Trump would have to offer investors attractive conditions. Above all, this includes permanent peace in Ukraine.

Does security play a role?

Ukraine had always stated that every agreement had to contain long -term and robust security guarantees that keep Russia from a new attack. In the information published so far, however, the only security clause does not contain an obligation for the United States. Even weapons are not mentioned in the agreement.

It only means that the USA “supports the efforts of Ukraine for the necessary security guarantees for permanent peace”, and a “comprehensive invasion” of Russia is also spoken of, which means a linguistic tightening of the previous course of Trump. After signing, Trump confirmed that an economic presence of the United States in Ukraine was also a security guarantee for the country.

What does Ukraine have to offer?

From aluminum to zinc, the agreement lists 57 soil treasures that are to be used together. This also includes metals of rare earths that are important for many high technology products. However, oil and gas should also be encouraged together. The problem: nobody knows the exact size of the Ukrainian occurrence. The exploration data often comes from Soviet times.

Nevertheless, Trump makes great hopes for the raw materials from Ukraine. This is how he wants to strengthen domestic industry. With regard to the importance of raw materials, the EU has defined 34 critical raw materials that are used to manufacture electric vehicles, mobile phones, rocket systems, turbines, laser technology and other high -tech but also everyday electronic devices. Ukraine should have at least 22 of these substances. The group of rare earths is also one of the critical raw materials.

According to the French office for geology and mining research, Ukraine has around 20 percent of the global occurrence of graphite, an important raw material, among other things for battery production. The country is also an important producer of manganese and titanium. According to its own information, Ukraine has one of the largest lithium deposits in Europe, which is estimated at 500,000 tons, but has not yet been developed. From Kyiv it says that six occurrence of rare earths are also known.

Can these raw materials be promoted in Ukraine?

According to mining and economic experts, Ukraine currently has no commercially operated mines for rare earths. The geological service stated that the government is preparing around 100 locations that are to be licensed and developed.

However, the much bigger problem is not the lack of infrastructure for dismantling – but the Russian war of attack and the fact that Russian troops currently keep around 20 percent of the Ukrainian state area – especially in the east of the country. According to estimates by the Ukrainian thought factory WE Build Ukraine and the National Institute for Strategic Studies, around 40 percent of metal resources are under Russian control.

Most of the coal deposits that driven the country's steel industry before the war are located in the east and has been lost. The data date from the first half of 2024, and the Russian troops have been advanced since then. Russia has occupied at least two Ukrainian lithium deposits during the war – one in Donetsk and another in the Saporischschja region in the southeast.